Dreams of a Mad Man
by Senecas Beard
Summary: Amy and Rory managed to live a relatively normal life after the Doctor left them. But when once again, after a series of troubling dreams, they find themselves aboard the TARDIS where the Doctor has gotten trapped- in his own mind. So, what do they do? Enlist the help of our favorite dream team to pull him out, of course! Simple. But with the mind of a Time Lord, it's anything but.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, fanfiction readers! If you have by chance stumbled upon this story, please take the time read and review it! Author (aka me,) would greatly appreciate it and send all reviewers hugs through email…or something…'tis a story about dreams, the Doctor, with a bit of romance and appearance by almost all our favorite DW and Inception characters at some point. (*cough Harkness cough*)and thus we come to the disclaimer:**

**John: Hey, Hollie! **

**Me: Yeah?**

**John: I've got the rights for Doctor Who and Inception!**

**Me: WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!**

***wakes up from dream* I have the rights for Doctor Who and Inception…wait a minute…my curtains look funny…ZOMG I'M STILL DREAMING. *insert mind blowing moment with equally mind blowing music here***

***wakes up again* Aww…dammit. Still own nothing. CURSE YOU COOOOOOBBBB!**

**DO ENJOY! Warning: this is relatively spoilery of Series 6, so if you haven't watched it all yet I don't recommend you read this just yet. Unless you want to be spoiled. In that case, GO RIGHT AHEAD!**

_Amy Pond walked along a dark corridor. Nothing about the place was familiar. It was slightly damp in the air, and barely lit by a dim string of electric lights on the low ceiling. She looked around curiously. "Hello?" she called out. Her voice reverberated down the empty, dank, hallway and the only reply she got was the echo of her cry. She kept walking. She wasn't sure exactly why she kept walking. She knew there could easily be something dangerous down this corridor. So why was she still walking? She realized it was cold. Unbearably cold. Her breath was coming out as steam, mist in the frigid air. She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering and wishing Rory was there. Then suddenly, a light blazed from the end of the corridor. A familiar sound echoed down the dark halls. It was a sound she had never forgotten, even after all this time. The sound of time itself. The TARDIS. A smile spread across her face._

"_The Doctor," she whispered breathlessly, before breaking into a run down the never-ending hallway. She saw the outline of the blue box appear gradually until it fully materialized at the far end of the corridor. She ran faster, but just when it seemed like she would reach the TARDIS, it turned out it was still further down the hallway. The dark walls seemed to mock her, as if they knew she'd never manage to make it to the end. She was starting to get exhausted when, finally- she was there. Standing in front of that box, that beautiful, beautiful Police Call Box, the thing she'd missed for so long. Slowly, the door opened. She grinned in spite of her exhaustion, knowing that any minute she'd see her Raggedy Doctor, and he would take her everywhere like he always used to. The door opened fully, and her bright smile quickly vanished and was replaced by a twisted expression of horror. Instead of the Doctor, a Silent stood there, towering over her in its business suit, it's mouthless, gaunt face large and menacing. Legs numb, she stumbled back, eyes wide with shock and fear. It took a step towards her, speaking in its horrible guttural voice._

"_Foolish girl. You believe your so called Doctor is safe. He is far from safe. We know that we were deceived. We know he still lives." It stretched out one of its horrid hands. "Silence WILL fall." Amy backed away quickly, but, in her panic to get away, she tripped and fell, landing on the damp ground. It leaned over her, sunken eyes looking directly into hers. Lips trembling, she managed to speak._

"_What do you want from me?"_

_Somehow, even though they couldn't express emotion, it seemed amused. "You shall soon know. We have plans for you, Amy Pond. You are our pawn, but you do not know it yet. You will be the one who leads us to victory."_

"_Never," she said defiantly. "I'd die before I hurt the Doctor!" She tried her best not to show that she was terrified._

_The Silent looked at her for a long time, saying nothing. Finally, it did. "Is that so?"_

"_Yes," she hissed fiercely._

"_Then..." it said slowly. "You shall die. With you and your daughter gone, he will have no one."" And then, Amy watched as something of a hole appeared where a mouth should've been on the Silent's twisted face. It raised its arm, pointing at her. She screamed before raw power surged from its finger tips, hitting here with a BOOM, incinerating her into ash. The last thing she saw was its face, contorted into an expression of what looked like satisfaction._

And that's when Amy Pond woke up. She bolted upwards in her bed, breathing heavily, her heart racing. She looked around quickly, than breathed a slow sigh of relief. She was home. In her bedroom. Not in a dark hallway with a Silent. Safe. She thought about her dream- well, it was more like a nightmare, really- wondering about what it could've meant. She glanced at the sleeping form of Rory Williams-Pond beside her, then shakily stood up and walked into their kitchen. The clock on the stove repeatedly flashed 5:36 am. Incredibly early, even for her. She flicked on her kettle. A tea had always managed to calm her nerves. Pouring the hot water on her tea bag, she sat down and gazed out the window at the just rising Sun. What could her nightmare mean? She really didn't like the idea of being a pawn for the Silence. Amy had had enough bad experiences with those things. The thought of working for them almost made her sick. And the part about "her daughter being out of the way?" What had the Silent meant by that? River had to be alright. A sick feeling came over her as she remembered that River and her had different timelines. Maybe...maybe River was gone. But, no. That couldn't be. Maybe the dream meant something else. It had to. Maybe...maybe the Doctor's coming back? Ever since River had told Amy and Rory that the Doctor was in fact alive, Amy had been waiting for him to come, but he hadn't yet. She sipped her tea, staring out the window. She didn't know how long she sat there for, until she heard footsteps beside her.

"You're up early." She turned and saw Rory, bleary eyed, with messy hair standing in the hall.

"Morning," she said with a smile. He yawned and looked at the clock.

"Amy..." he said. "It's 6 o clock. What exactly were you doing?"

She shrugged innocently. "Couldn't sleep." She didn't want to tell him about her nightmare. She didn't know why, but she didn't.

He sat down in the chair opposite her. "Alright." There was silence for a few minutes, before he asked "It's the Doctor, isn't it?"

She gave him a tiny smile. "Yeah."

"You miss him?" He knew her too well.

"More than ever." She sighed and took a few more sips of tea. "It's just...after all those adventures we went on, all those times we had, it's so weird to be back here like it all never happened." She set her mug down angrily. "How could we be expected to lead a normal life after that?"

Rory nodded sympathetically. "I miss it too. But," he added jokingly. "I don't think I miss dying every once in a while."

She laughed. "Yeah, I don't think I miss the "constantly in mortal danger" thing as much, either."

"Do you think River knows where he is?" Rory wondered. "I mean, if she ever stops by again, we could ask her..."

"I don't think she will," Amy said sadly.

Rory gaped at her, somewhat surprised. "What makes you say that? She's..." He swallowed. "She's our daughter; she's bound to come back!" He still had trouble believing that sometimes. Amy could sympathize. After all, it wasn't every day that you learned the woman you were traveling with was your part alien daughter, who also happened to be your best friend growing up. Stuff like that just didn't happen. Amy sighed.

"I don't know. It's just this feeling I get...remember, her timeline goes opposite ours. So, technically, in our timeline, in our past, she's already died."

"You...you think she's dead?" Rory asked. "But, why? We can't know for sure."

Suddenly, Amy found her eyes swimming with tears. "Rory- I..." She burst into tears.

"Hey- Amy- what?" he said, sliding over to put his arm around her, looking concerned. "What's wrong?"

Between sobs, she confessed her nightmare, telling him all about the TARDIS, the Silent, the Silent's plans for the Doctor, and the fact that River was now "out of the way." He listened quietly, his arms around her.

"-and Rory, I'm so scared that something has happened to the Doctor, the Silence knows he isn't dead! And River, poor River, something happened to her, too! Our daughter!"

"Shh," he said gently, comforting her. "River and the Doctor are fine. I know it. It was only a dream, right?" He pretended like Amy's nightmare didn't bother him, but inside, he was a little concerned. He couldn't show it right now. She needed him.

She looked up at him with her tear stained face. "But what," she whispered. "If the dream becomes reality?"

Rory shrugged. "We could always, y'know, try to contact the Doctor."

"How?" Amy whispered. "We can't attract the attention of his enemies...unless..." she gasped. "Torchwood?"

Rory nodded. "Torchwood."

***plays victory music* YAY. First chapter= complete. Hopefully it piqued your interest and you shall return for Chapter 2 (in which there may or may not be Captain Jack Harkness.) Please review! I'm hoping to bring your favorite dream team into the next chapter, we shall see! That Arthur…hot dayyyuummmmm! ;)**

**And before anyone says it….DIBS ON RORY. DIBS DIBS DIBS!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, hello fanfiction readers! This is...um...chapter two. YEAH! anyway, reviewers: THANK YOU FOR EXISTING! you are simply fantastic. Also, RaeRae would like to add that she has "dobs" on Tennant, whatever that means ;) *ahem.* disclaimer. right. yes.**

**RaeRae: Oods are cool.  
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**Me: Really? You think so? I always thought they were creepy, with their orby things and yeah...**

**RaeRae: Well they didn't always have orby things. They're born holding brains.**

**Me: Of course. Silly me. I forgot. But then what's in their heads if there's no brains? Mush?**

**RaeRae: I always thought there were more tentacles, so that if one was cut off, it'd go like "BLELELELELELE" and grow back again.**

**Me: BLELELELELELELELELE**

**RaeRae: BLELELELELELELELE**

**Both: LOLOLOLOLOLOL! BLELELELELE**

**Oods: Hollie and RaeRae died from fits of laughter while shouting "BLELELELE!" We have translated this to: BLELE I DON'T OWN INCEPTION OR DOCTOR WHO BLELELE.**

**now enjoy! :)**

Meanwhile, in Paris...

Arthur Kent stared at the open PASIV machine, debating on whether he should go under or not. On one hand, he'd hardly been under since the Fischer job, over 3 months ago. On the other, he'd been distancing himself from the dream world for good reason, not wanting to become like Cobb, to get lost in his own reality. Not that any of his projections were a problem. He knew not to go deep into Limbo. He'd been there once before, and he hadn't enjoyed it. And he had known not to build from memory. In fact, him and Ryan had hardly built at all, as far as he could remember. But, he thought, never mind that. That was the past. This was the present. And the present was all he cared about. Finally making up his mind, he inserted the needle into his wrist and pressed the button. A few seconds later, he was out.

And so, for the first time in a while, he was back in his _own _dreams. Not Cobb's, not Fischer's. He hadn't been in his own mind, by himself, for ages. He liked his dream world. Nothing too similar to make him forget his reality. Nothing too strange or impossible. It was simple. A simple, organized, city street. Just the way he liked it. His projections were just normal people. He walked down the street, observing his work, and entered a small bar. Sitting down, he ordered a beer. Usually, he didn't drink beer, but this was a dream, and he was alone- so, why not? As he sipped it, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a girl with long black hair at a table nearby, looking at him. He blinked quickly. It couldn't be her. Why was _she _appearing? He hadn't...it must have been because he was thinking about what had happened earlier. She usually didn't manifest in his dreams, because he knew that she was fine and they had both gotten out alright. It wasn't guilt. Maybe his subconscious was trying to tell him to contact her. It'd been well over 2 years...maybe, he reasoned, it was saying that he was going to see her soon. He winced, imagining the verbal beating she'd give him after being out of touch for two years. _"Two- freaking-years, Arthur! Where the hell where you?" _Yes, she'd sound exactly like that. He looked up at where she'd been sitting, and saw that she was gone. He heard the door to the bar open, and looked round to see who it was, when a familiar brunette stepped through.

"Hello, Arthur." He choked on his drink and coughed for a minute, before managing to swallow and regain his composure.

It was Ariadne. Her hair long and as pretty as ever, and her cheeks pink. She was wearing one of her trademark scarves.

"Ariadne?" She walked over to his table.

"Mind if I sit here?"

"No, not at all." he replied. He gestured at the nearly empty bar. "It's a dream, right. Sit wherever you want." She chose to sit in the chair opposite him. "Why are you here?"

She bit her lip, slightly nervous. She always got a bit nervous around him, although she didn't know why. He was just so professional, so poised, so _perfect_, that she was afraid to mess up around him. "I... I missed it. Dreaming. I thought I'd come and visit the workshop, to see if someone was here and I saw you there, so I thought I'd go under and talk to you."

"Okay," he said. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Well," she started. "Since the job, I've been having problems sleeping. This is going to sound childish, but it's almost like-"

"Nightmares." he said, finishing her sentence. "I know. We all got them, right after starting in the dream business."

"I had those too," she replied, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "I kept trying to control it, but it wouldn't work, and I was getting flashes of the inception job, things that happened in the city, the hotel..." She stopped and her cheeks turned a little pink. She wondered if he could tell that she was thinking about their kiss in the hotel lobby. But that was strictly business. It hadn't meant anything.

"Those are normal," he said. "Your subconscious is just adjusting. They'll be gone soon."

"The ones I've been having recently are different," she explained. "They're stranger, more...fantasy-like. They're things I've never seen before in my life, that I'm dreaming up somehow."

He sipped his drink, listening intently. "What sort of things?"

She looked up at him, hiding a small smile. "It's gonna sound really stupid..."

"Doesn't matter," he said.

"Alright," she said, sighing. "There's..." She closed her eyes tightly, trying to remember details. "...A big blue box, like a telephone booth, and it's flying...I see three people. A woman with red hair, a Roman warrior, and another man wearing some sort of funny red hat and a bow tie...they're flying, all of them, through the stars, and space and time, and they go to all these wonderful places and I-" She stopped, blushing furiously. "I'm sorry. I got a bit carried away."

"It's all right," he said, the tiniest of smiles on his lips. "It sounds...interesting." He marveled at the Architect's ability to have such strange and whimsical dreams, something his mind could never do.

"It changes sometimes," she admitted. "Sometimes, there's different people in the box. Once, there was a bigger man, with shaved hair and a big nose who travels with a pretty blonde girl. Sometimes, it's another man, who looks different again, with a trenchcoat and Converse and 3D glasses. He goes with the blonde girl, but then she disappears and is replaced by another woman, a dark woman, who's then replaced by a different woman!"

"Sometimes," Arthur said. "Dreams of things like that are signs of things that are going to happen in the future."

She gave him a funny look. "You think I'm going to fly in a blue box with some strange man?"

He chuckled. "No. Of course not. That's impossible. But the blue box or the man could represent something, like they're symbols that mean other things."

"Right," she said. "I'll have to look up what seeing a flying blue box in your dreams means." She looked at him. "I guess you don't know, do you?"

"No idea," he admitted. "I highly doubt that it has anything to do with your future-" Her face dropped. "What?"

"That's a little disappointing," she said, grinning in spite of herself. "I almost wish it were real. I'd love to travel to incredible places like that, through space, and time, it'd be amazing. I wish the strange man would come and take me away..." She gazed at nowhere in particular, apparently lost in her thoughts.

"Ariadne." he said, snapping her back to reality- that is, the reality in the dream.

She blinked. "Oh! Sorry. It must sound so stupid to you...wanting to ride on some magical blue box!"

"I don't think it sounds stupid," he said.

She looked shocked for a moment. "You don't?"

"No," he said firmly. "I think it's fascinating." And suddenly, with a start, the small bar vanished and they both woke up in reality. Arthur carefully removed the needle from his wrist. Ariadne did the same.

"The sedative ran out," he mumbled, closing up the PASIV and putting it away.

"So..." Ariadne said. "You think my crazy dreams are fascinating?"

"Yes." He smiled.

"Well, you're the first," she muttered, staring at the floor.

"Ariadne?" he asked. "Would you like to have a cup of coffee with me? I'd like to hear more about your dreams."

She smiled and her eyes lit up at the prospect of talking about her crazy notions and hopes to someone who would listen and understand. "I'd love to."

He stood up. "Well, let's go, then."

She smirked. "Or, as people say in Paris, _Allons-y_!" And together they left the workshop.

**So, yeah! That was chapter 2! Hope you enjoyed it! (I did. Arthur x Ariadne is one of my favorite pairings ever. I like writing fluff.) Anyway, we'll get back to our dear friends Amy and Rory (asddfghjkl; he's pretty) in the next chapter, and find out what exactly they're going to do with Torchwood. And I can almost guarantee some Harkness in the next chapter. And maybe some Eames because he's amazing. So review? Please? For Jack? :D Seriously though, if you review, I will love you. Reviews. I love reviews now. Reviews are cool. Kay? Kay. Until next chapter...**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'M BACK! :D Note for this chapter: WE ARE GOING TO PRETEND THE 2011 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL DIDN'T HAPPEN, OKAY? DISREGARD IT. DOES NOT EXIST. ERASE IT FROM YOUR TIMELINE. With that, **

**DISCLAIMER:**

**Me: Guise...how do Daleks reproduce...?**

**Annika: Uhm. Well. When two Daleks love each other very very much...**

**Raechelle: The whisk goes into the plunger...**

**Me: MOTHER OF GOD. I liked our Ood conversations better. BLELE.**

**Dalek: DALEKS ARE SUPREME TO EVERY OTHER LIVING CREATURE. EXTERMINATE.**

**Me, Annika, Raechelle: OH JESUS.**

**Me: MERCY, PLEASE!**

**Dalek: SAY IT.**

**Me: Say what...?**

**Dalek: YOU KNOW.**

**Me: Oh...fine...I don't own Inception or Doctor Who, they belong to Nolan and BBC.**

**Dalek: OKAY. LOL JK WE'RE STILL EXTERMINATING YOU. *troll face* U MAD?**

**ENJOY**

"Torchwood..." Amy said slowly. "You want to explain to me what that is? Because I have no idea what I just agreed to. Aliens...?"

"They have everything to do with aliens!" Rory said excitedly. "You mean...you don't know about Torchwood?"

"Should I?" she asked sharply.

"Well...I suppose not," he admitted. "Anyway, they're this organization, based in Britain, and they deal with aliens all the time! Don't you remember, a couple years ago, when there were all those robot things everywhere, all over the world?"

"Yeah," she said. "I figured that was alien, but it was before I really met the Doctor, so how could I know?"

"That was Torchwood!" Rory continued. "They had this big place in London, but I guess after that incident it stopped running. But I know..." he said, attempting to act mysterious, "It still exists. They restarted it. They had a base in Cardiff, but it got destroyed too."

Amy raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised by Rory's fanboying over this organization. "And...how, do you know all of this?"

"I, uh...researched it. A little. Well, no, a lot."

She laughed. "Rory, you never told me you had a fetish for secret organizations that people aren't supposed to know about!"

"It's safer if people didn't know about it," he said. "If they'd ever caught me looking through their files, at least you'd be okay."

She slipped her arms around him and gave him a squeeze. "Protecting me from a dangerous organization. Sweet."

He grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess so. Anyway, if we go to this organization, they might be able to help us contact the Doctor."

"So, where is it, then?" Amy asked.

"Ah...um...Glasgow..."

"Glasgow?" Amy practically yelled, totally shocked. "Rory...that's..."

"Far," he said. "Yes. But you want to see the Doctor...besides, it's the only branch I know of still open. I think. I'm not sure. Nobody really knows."

"I _need _to see the Doctor," she said. "Oooh, when I find him, he is getting hell for not telling us he's alive!"

Rory sighed. "Let's go."

Some time later, (well, a long time later, considering Glasgow was a big distance away) after enjoying a scenic drive through the Scottish moors that quickly turned into an incredibly boring ride, they arrived at a massive old wooden house that was probably beautiful in the 1800s, but now now looked like a wreck. Amy looked at it, curling her lip slightly.

"This is the...hi-tech...alien institute?"

Rory shrugged. "Maybe they went bankrupt." Above a tall pair of doors marking the entrance, the word "Torchwood" was engraved. "Well..." Rory said, attempting to steel his nerves. "Here we go." Slowly, they pushed open the doors and walked in.

"Great security," Amy muttered. Inside, it was considerably better looking, and looked much more modern and clean than the decrepit and forlorn exterior of the mansion. A woman sat at a desk, wearing the kind of pantsuit that gave off the impression of a strict businesswoman.

"Can I help you?" she asked, in a hard voice. She looked as if she'd much rather be somewhere else right now.

"Um...well..." Rory said. "We're here for Torchwood...about the Doctor."

She raised a pencilled eyebrow with a scowl. "Excuse me? I don't know anything about Torchwood or a Doctor. Doctor Who?"

"Please, ma'am," Amy said pleadingly. "We know this is a Torchwood base. Just let us in, please! We know aliens exist!"

"Young lady!" the woman said, her scowl deepening even further, which seemed inhumanely possible. "I don't have any idea what you're talking about! This place is for weddings and special occasions! We do not deal with aliens, or Torchwood, or any kind of DOCTOR here!"

She shouted the last few words so loudly they reverberated through the empty hall. A door along the hallway behind the furious woman's desk opened, and a man walked out and outside.

"Irene, what's going on? I heard something- the word "Doctor..." He had short, black hair that stuck up in the front, a cleft chin, and a wide smile. He wore a long black trench coat over a tucked in shirt complete with suspenders. On his wrist was some sort of technology that looked like a massive watch.

Irene stood up, livid. "These- these people insist in seeing someone about a Doctor, and something about Torchwood, and I don't know! You deal with them!"

He grinned cheekily and offered Amy his hand. "Captain Jack Harkness. And who are you?" He winked.

"Are you at it again, Jack?" Irene said. "Stop it."

Jack cast her an annoyed look. "For the millionth time, I was only saying hello!"

Amy blushed and said, "I'm Amy Williams-Pond."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Amy Williams-Pond." he said. He shook her hand, offering her a hearty wink. Behind her, Rory cleared his throat loudly, drawing a strange look from Jack.

"This is my husband, Rory," Amy said, pushing him forward. Jack blinked for a minute, then offered his hand to Rory.

"Hello, Rory," he said, just as charmingly as he had spoken to Amy. He winked again. Amy and Rory shared a quick glance, both of them raising their eyebrows briefly.

"So, Captain," Amy said quickly.

"Please," he said. "Call me Jack."

She grinned. "Alright, Jack. We need your help."

"Anything," he replied.

She took a deep breath and looked at Rory, who nodded. She relaxed and said, "We need to contact the Doctor. Do you know him?" She watched his face, hoping that he did, and that he'd be able to help. If not, then him and Irene would send them down to the local asylum.

"The Doctor?" Jack said. He grinned. They silently exhaled in relief. "Of course I know the Doctor! Two incarnations, actually! He's the reason I'm immortal! Well, no, that was Rose, but anyway..." He stopped when he realized the two were giving him strange looks. "Long story. Anyway, yeah, I know him. Haven't seen him in a bit. What's he look like?"

"Um, well..." Amy said. "He wears a tweed jacket with elbow patches, and he's got brown hair that's sort of..." She looked at Rory. "How would you describe his hair?"

Rory shrugged. "Ah...poofy?"

"Sure," she said. "Poofy."

"Don't forget the bow tie," Rory reminded her.

"Oh yes, the bow ties. He loves bow ties. Always says they're cool."

"Doesn't sound like the Doctor I knew. Guess he's regenerated." Jack said. "But, we can still contact him. Come with me."

Glad to leave the angry Irene behind, they followed Jack down a hallway, before entering a side room. He pressed something on the wall, and with a noise it slowly slid out of place, revealing a much more modern looking white hallway. They walked down it until they reached an elevator. Jack held his hand up to a scanner beside the elevator doors. It read his hand, before turning green.

"Captain Jack Harkness. Torchwood leader. Access granted." the machine said coolly. The doors slid open and they walked in. Jack pressed a series of buttons, and the doors shuddered shut. Slowly they descended. Soon after, the doors slid open again and they walked into a large, futuristic looking room, full of computers, and weird, alien technology.

"Welcome," Jack said with a smile. "to Torchwood Two." He allowed Amy and Rory a moment to ogle before running over to an especially weird looking machine, complete with a massive antenna that stretched up through the ceiling. Amy suspected it went through the roof of the entire place.

"Now," Jack said, flicking a switch on the machine. It turned on and light flickered as it powered up. "to contact the Doctor, we simply have to.."

"Hold up a minute," Rory said. "What is this thing? It's not going...I dunno, blow up Britain, is it?"

"Blow up Britain?" Jack thought for a minute. "Used incorrectly, probably. But we should be okay."

He fiddled with a few knobs and buttons on the machine, and looking around his shoulder, called to a pretty Asian woman chatting on a phone across the room.

Rory opened his mouth to protest. "_Should _be okay? Jack-"

"Lucy!" Jack said, cutting Rory off. "Come help me out with this, would you?" She walked over, still holding the phone.

"Gotta go, Ryan." she said. "Work calls." She hung up the phone and shoved it in her pocket. "Needed me, Captain?"

"Yeah," he said. "By the way, you're looking quite lovely today-"

"Get to it, Jack," she said irritably. "As you know, I've got a boyfriend in the USA. So stop it."

He rolled his eyes. "Right. Your little "demon hunter." What's his name, Sam Winchester?"

"Yes," Lucy snapped. "What the hell do you want, Jack?"

"Uh, guys..." Rory said. He glanced at the machine, pointing at it. "This machine could blow up Britain..."

"Lucy," Jack said, cutting Rory off yet again. "I just need you to connect it to the system."

She mimed flipping over the table. "Of course." Tying her black hair up in a sleek ponytail, she leaned over the machine and started keying in some codes. A few minutes later, she stood up. "It's ready. But Jack, you really need to learn how to do this yourself. Goodness."

"Hang on!" Rory said, determined to make himself heard. "You just said this machine could blow up Britain, yet we're still going to use it?"

"I told you," the captain said. "Used properly, it should be fine."

"Should?" Amy asked. But before they could ask any more questions, Jack pulled down a big, important looking switch, and the entire machine lit up, creating a loud humming noise. Pulses of light were moving up the antenna, to where they were probably emitting across the sky outside.

"What are you doing?" Amy half-shouted over the roar of the machine.

"Calling the Doctor!" Jack yelled back. "It's a signalling machine! He'll see it!"

And with one more loud bang that made them cover their ears, the machine turned off.

Rory slowly uncovered his ears. "That was...lovely...I hope it worked."

A familiar noise behind Amy made her turn around and smile. "It did."

Slowly, the TARDIS materialized, before it finally sat solid in the middle of the Torchwood basement. The door opened, and Amy flinched briefly, remembering her dream about the Silence, but then, a man with a tweed jacket and elbow patches, bright red bow tie, and a fez aloft his head walked out, grinning brilliantly.

"Oh hello," he said. "Did someone call me?"

"Doctor!" Amy and Rory both yelled it at the same time, and ran towards him.

"Pond!" he said, grinning wider before sweeping her up into a tight hug. "Lovely to see you again!"

He let go of her, still grinning broadly. "And Rory! Good to see you again as well!" And he hugged Rory.

Amy smiled, overjoyed. "Got yourself another fez, did you?"

"Of course," he said. "Fezzes are cool."

"We know," Rory said, equally happy.

And now, Amy was facing the Doctor with a dark expression on her face.

"Where the HELL where you, you...you...assbutt!" she yelled. The Doctor simply stood there as she glowered, almost as made as Irene the desk lady had been.

"Assbutt?" he asked, but before he could say more, she started up again, red hair resembling flames.

"You could have at least told us you were alive! Didn't you know how worried I was, you ninny? For TWO whole years after that incident with River-" Her voice faltered. "And you NEVER showed up! We were so worried! We were-" She sighed with frustration. "Just come here, you big idiot!"

The Doctor smiled at Amy once again,wrapping his arms around her. His eyes glinted with that childish although wise spark and the grin of a nine year old was plastered on his face.

"Oh Amelia, Amelia, little Pond." he murmured once again. "It's good to see you, unbelievably good. Better then you can imagine!" He grasped both of her hands, the ever watchful glare of Rory becoming more and more intense on the Doctor's back the more he hugged and reunited with Amy. But this was the Doctor, and Rory was alright with the Doctor, understood that he was his wife's best friend.

The Doctor finally did a little spin on the heel of his shoes and snapped his fingers. "Ah, Jack! Captain Jack Harkness, in the flesh! The Face of Boe himself!" The Doctor announced, swinging around Amy and to the handsome Torchwood agent. He flung his arms out wide and laughed in a triumphant manner. "Nothing seems to trump you, now does it Jackie." Harkness smiled and shook the Doctor's hand."You've changed Doctor, you've gotten pretty young. Almost too young. I'm not sure if you'd be illegal or not..." He chuckled, patting his friend on the shoulder. The Doctor raised an eyebrow and flung a finger to the Captain's face. "Stop iiit." The Doctor tried to keep a serious face on, but it didn't work. His face soon melted into that of a child's again, and he grinned madly like a cheshire cat. "Can't stay mad at you." He flung around again, his coat flapping to the side to face the TARDIS. He snapped his fingers and pointed to the ancient ship. "RIGHT. Let's get a move on shall we?" He weaseled in between the people and darted into the TARDIS. He popped his head back out, fez on top, and smiled at everybody. "Well? Get your rump's moving, let's go! I'm not going to wait here for eternity!" He grinned again, and bobbed his head back inside, calling for his companions. The companions, the forever travelling companions. Saluting Captain Jack and thanking him, Amy and Rory ran in. The Doctor stuck his head out one more time, and saluted the Captain as well.

"Thank you, good Captain! See you around the universe!" Jack laughed and returned the salute.

"Anytime, Doctor. And hey-" he said. "Stop by more often."

"That I will, Jackie boy! Until then, goodbye!" The TARDIS door closed tightly, and Jack watched, grinning, as it slowly dematerialized.

"Now then!" the Doctor said. "It's great to be back, I must say. Where to, Pond? Any choice in particular? I suppose I've got a lot of universe to make up for, don't I?"

"Right you are, Doctor!" Amy replied, laughing, as she held onto the TARDIS as it shook.

"Where will it be, then?" he asked. "Raxacoricofallapatorious? Hulegio? The Sombrero Galaxy? The Unicorn Nebula? Black hole 528491?"

"Doesn't matter, honestly," Amy and Rory both assured him.

"Alright, then, have I got the treat for you!" he said excitedly. He threw a few switches and buttons, whirling around to the other side of the control panel and pressing a few more. "No, no, not there," he muttered to himself as he dashed around the TARDIS maniacally. Finally, he decided on a place. Flipping one final switch, the TARDIS shook and spun, zooming off.

"And now, Ponds," he shouted above the noise of the machine. "Very, very shortly, we shall be in the lovely city of Paris, France!"

"Paris?" Amy asked, her face lighting up. "I've always wanted to go there!"

"I assure you, Pond, it's spectacular!" the Doctor replied. Suddenly, the TARDIS jerked, knocking both Amy and Rory off of their feet. "That's odd..."

"What's odd?" Rory muttered from the TARDIS floor.

The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver, pointing at the TARDIS, moving the little green light up and down. "We appear to be..." He continued pointing it at the panel.

"Be what?" Amy asked.

"Well, it would appear that we are..." He looked at the screwdriver one more time. "Yes! We're crashing!"

And with all 3 people inside it screaming, the TARDIS spun out of control into the middle of Paris.

**And there you are, my lovelies! I HAD SO MUCH FUN WRITING THIS CHAPTER!**

**You got your Doctor, if you wanted him! ALSO: REVIEWERS: MWAAH! LOVE YOU! LOVE YOU! LOVE YOU! I hope it was an adequate enough explanation for Rory's knowledge about Torchwood, and I understand that it may not totally coordinate with the TV show Torchwood. I haven't watched it, so there may be things I don't know. DERPS. Sorry. ANYHOO, that's all, folks! I do hope you enjoyed Mr. Harkness in there, he's always so fun to write.**

**ALSO: BIG PROPS TO ANNIKA FOR HELPING ME WRITE A FEW THINGS AT THE ENDING. YOU ARE SO AWESOME :D**

**Until Chapter 4, -Hollie ;)**

**ALSO (again) I would LOVE LOVE LOVE IT if you reviewed :D so please do! It makes me smile and I do like to know if I'm doing good or bad. THANKS!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'M BACK!  
>after the longest hiatus ever ugh I am so SO SO SORRY! Please accept my sincerest of apologies. Hopefully I should be able to update a lot more quickly now that I'm back in the writing swing of things. I hope you enjoy this chapter (yesss ArthurxAriadne goodness I will ship them to the ends of the earth) with a little bit of lovely TARDIS. <strong>

**so now I present: Chapter 4.**

**disclaimer: I dun own Doctor Who, that belongs to Steven Moffat (maybe..?) and Inception of course belongs to the lovely Christopher Nolan (i LOVE that man!)**

Arthur and Ariadne's outing for coffee was going extremely well until a blue box crashed through the window of their warehouse.

They had gotten some coffee from a quaint little Paris café. Arthur preferred his black, Ariadne noted. Strong and black. She, on the other hand, liked her coffee medium roast, sweetened with some sugar and cream.

"So," Arthur said as he placed his coffee on a small tray. "A blue box?"

Ariadne laughed and took a sip of her coffee, savouring the taste. "It's not as strange as it sounds, I assure you."

He raised an eyebrow with a tiny quirk of the lips. "Do tell."

She grinned and turned a little pink. "Well, to be completely specific, it's a phone box. Have you ever been to London?"

He nodded. "Many times."

"You know those red telephone boxes? It's like that, but blue. And..." She stopped, embarrassed.

Arthur looked up questioningly. "And...?"

She buried her face in her hands, peeking through and offering a small grin. "This is where it gets really weird."

He shrugged. "Considering what we do for a living, I don't think we have the right measure of weird."

She bit her lip, wondering how to put it. She didn't want to sound like an idiot in front of Arthur. There was a fine line between fantastical and crazy, and this was leaning a little more to the "crazy" side. It still sounded crazy to her, but someone how she'd dreamed it up. Maybe I'm crazy too.

She took a deep breath and decided to just spit it out. "It...it can time travel."

* * *

><p>Arthur had always liked Ariadne. She was smart, artistic, brilliant at architecture. The best he'd seen in a long time. There was also the fact that she was incredibly pretty, but he ignored that fact, keeping thoughts like that out of his mind. Well...most of the time. There was that one time he had stolen a kiss from her in the hotel lobby during the Fischer job, but that was just a bit of fun. He was curious, was all.<br>Eames had taunted him about many times before.

_"Arthur, darling, please. You're completely besotted. "_

_"I don't know what you're talking about, Mr. Eames."_

_Eames had been on about it for days. Just because him and Ariadne had kept in touch after the Fischer job, that they liked to share a conversation or two when Arthur was in Paris (which was actually quite often.) He didn't know where Eames was pulling this big "love story" thing from._

_"Arthur, just own up to it. Don't think I haven't seen the casual glances, the chats you two have after work when she's staying late working on a project. It's alright, she's a lovely lady."_

_"I don't have anything to own up to!"_

_"I bet she feels the same way."_

_"She doesn't!" he snapped. Eames smirked, and he realized that what he said was practically a confession. But it wasn't true. He didn't think of Ariadne like that. A colleague, a friend, maybe. Maybe more. But Eames didn't need to know that._

_"At least man up and ask her out for coffee."_

Well, he thought grudgingly, he had done that.

And now she was sitting here with him, talking about blue police boxes that time traveled.

He wasn't sure if he was going to take her seriously at first. He knew it was dream, and dreams were usually incredibly bizarre for most people, but Ariadne wasn't "most people." She'd dream-shared. And once you dream-shared, your dreams were never quite the same. The look on her face was nervous, and she was biting her lip. _She's afraid I'm going to think she's nuts_, he thought.

He knew she wasn't. He just didn't know what to say.

* * *

><p><em>Oh God, he thinks I'm nuts<em>. The expression on Arthur's face was pretty blank, and he hadn't said anything yet. You just had to go on about your crazy dreams, Ari. Now you've gone and ruined your coffee date with him. She secretly enjoyed calling it a date in her mind, although he probably didn't think of it in the same way. Coffee with a friend, more like.

After they'd kissed in the hotel, she'd thought that maybe there was a chance at this becoming a little more. But Arthur had never really seemed interested, and it wasn't like she was hopelessly in love with him either. So she'd abandoned the thought and moved on to other things.

"Arthur?" she asked nervously. "I know, it's sounds bizarre, and strange, and-"

"No," he said, cutting her off and taking another sip of his coffee. "It's not. Highly uncommon in dreams, though. You can do an infinite amount of things in dreams, but usually something like time travel is impossible. You must be...quite the creator."

She took that as a compliment and smiled slightly. "Want me to show you?"

He looked a little surprised. "Show me? You think you can recreate the dream you had?"

She smiled even wider, knowing this was her chance to impress him. "I already did. Built it. The blue box, I mean."

"It's official," he said.

She looked at him curiously. "What's official?"

"You're the greatest architect I've ever met."

They walked back to the warehouse, chatting along the way about some of Ariadne's designs. She liked explaining them to him, noting the expression on his face as she pulled out her notebook and showed him some sketches.

"Ariadne...these are amazing."

She blushed and fiddled with her scarf. "They're just some doodles."

"They're better than anything I could imagine." She looked up at him him, and he was actually smiling at her. A genuine smile from Arthur.

_Maybe this isn't so bad after all._

They got back to the warehouse, where Arthur pulled out the PASIV and offered her a wire. She carefully inserted the needle into her wrist, wincing slightly. She'd never gotten used to it, and to be quite honest, she hated needles. She glanced at him to make sure he was ready, and he nodded, so she pushed the button.

They were in a simple white room. Airy, large windows overlooking a city that could've been Paris. High up in the air, yet impossibly large. Drawings and doodles all over the walls. Arthur gave her a meaningful look.

"I come here to build," she said. "Made myself my own personal workshop. Don't pay any attention to my drawings, they're all ridiculous."

He looked at a large drawing filled with Penrose steps, paradoxical stairs that never ended. There were several large sketches, with smaller ones lurking in the corners. "Paradoxes, huh?"

"I've been kind of obsessed with creating them after you told me about them," she admitted. "There's just something about creating paradoxes in the mind that's just really...fun. Useful for when I build for jobs,too."

He nodded, wandering around and looking at her other sketches with fascination. Sometimes she had actually made mini-models of some places, and they were lying around on tables. He wondered if she'd built some of them actual size down in the city. There was definitely potential.

Ariadne pulled him around the corner to another part of the room.

"I know Cobb said you're not supposed to build from memories," she said. "But I came down here, kept the memory from the dream...and I made it. I don't know if it's entirely accurate, or if it would even work-"

Sitting there was a blue police box, just as she had described. Tall, thin, it looked as if it could fit two people, tops. A time travel machine? Unlikely. But it was still an interesting thing, this box that she'd pulled right out of her own subconscious.

She leaned against the door, covering the "PULL TO OPEN" sign. "I don't even know what I'm saying, of course it couldn't work. I mean, it's a dream, but..."

He laid a hand on the door handle. "How could this ever time travel?" He pulled.

Ariadne grabbed his hand, stopping him from opening the door. She could hardly believe what she'd made. It was impossible, even for a dream. But that's how it was in her memory, and that's how it'd turned out. She couldn't explain, why the inside was the way it was. "Don't open it!"

Arthur regarded her with a curious look, eyes flicking from the box, to her hand, which was still resting on his. "Why?"

She blushed and her hand immediately moved to her neck, where she tugged and pulled at her scarf. She seemed to do that a lot when she was nervous. "It's just- it's not-" She took a breath and met his eyes. "It'll take a minute to get used to."

He smirked. "I think I can handle a telephone box." He pulled the door open. And stared.

The inside- it was- huge! A giant room with a massive control panel in the middle, full of buttons, switches, levers, lights, monitors, pedals- some bits of technology that didn't even look human. He backed away quickly and shut the door, walking around the box a few times. Everything in his mind was screaming that this was impossible- the inside- not even in a dream- could not be bigger than the outside. How had Ariadne created something like this?

He glanced at her and saw that she'd walked into the police box/time travel machine/whatever it was.

"Arthur?" she called. After walking around the box one more time and tapping it to make sure it was real, he walked in.

Ariadne couldn't help but smile at his shocked expression. She'd been surprised too, when she'd dug down into her memory and pulled that out. It had just kind of...appeared that way. But she was used to it now, and she found it oddly beautiful. There were stairs leading to rooms she hadn't even explored yet, a glass floor where below you could see mechanical contraptions, and right in the middle the massive control panel.

Arthur was still speechless. "Does it...do anything?"

Ari grinned. "I've never tried."

He was inspecting the control panel, looking at the various switches with confusion. "Don't touch anything until we know how it works-"

That was probably the smart, cautious way to go about things, but Ariadne was feeling reckless. She grabbed a switch and heaved it upwards.

With a jolt that nearly knocked both of them off of their feet, they felt the machine move with a groan as the contraption in the middle began moving up and down. She pressed a few more buttons, and it really felt like they were flying. She held on to the panel, laughing as it rocked back and forth. Arthur had regained his footing.

And suddenly, it stopped. The lights stopped blinking, the machine stopped groaning, everything stopped moving.

"Ariadne," Arthur said. "What did you do?"

She gave him a little smile and wandered over to the doors. "No idea." She opened the door, and a neverending blackness looked back. Stars winked at them from a million light years away.

Arthur lunged forward and caught Ariadne's wrist as she leaned out of the door with a strangled gasp and slowly began to float up as zero gravity kicked in. He stood in the doorframe, holding onto her wrist as the rest of her floated out in...space.

They were simply floating in the middle of space. Ariadne smiled at him with flushed cheeks and wonder in her eyes. Her dark hair drifted around her head and her scarf was starting to float away.

"Can you bring me in?" she asked.

He pulled her wrist gently, tugging her forward and catching her in his arms. They lingered like that for a moment, and then she was inside, shutting the doors and walking over to lean on the control panel with a satisfied smirk.

"So?" she asked. "Verdict?"

"I..." He couldn't think of anything to say. Wandering over to the doors, he opened it slightly and looked out into the void again. They were in space, on a time-traveling police box of all things, that she had built entirely from memory, that completely defied the laws of physics and science and even dreaming itself.

He thought he might be a little in love.

He also hoped the machine was on autopilot.

Ariadne grinned, watching Arthur stand in the door frame, gazing out at the blackness as they slowly drifted.

She noticed something out of the corner of her eye.

She turned quickly, and saw that they weren't alone on the ship. Standing right there on the platform was a...thing. Humanoid in appearance, but tall, so much taller than her in a black suit and tie, and the head...it was like something out of one of those horror movies she hated. Large, bulbous, with a horribly twisted face, dark eyes and no visible mouth. The hands were awful, too, great big 3-fingered tentacle-like things. Alien.

She stumbled backwards, tripping and throwing out her hands blindly as she stared at the thing, crashing into the control panel with a loud gasp.

Arthur heard it and turned around, closing the doors. "Ari? Are you okay?"

She blinked once, twice, and looked at him. "Yeah, fine, I just..." She couldn't explain why she was so unsettled, for a moment, she'd been utterly terrified, and she couldn't remember why. "I'm fine."

She shakily got to her feet, and she heard Arthur gasp beside her. "Ariadne," he said slowly. "What the hell is that?"

She followed his gaze, and saw that he was staring at-at...what was that thing? An alien? She'd never seen anything more terrifying in her life. It's face...twisted, huge, evil-looking. It took a step forward, raising its arm. Arthur stumbled backward, throwing out an arm to keep her back.

"Just keep an eye on it," he said. "I don't know what it is but I don't think it's friendly..."

She nodded. "Right. Yeah."

He turned away from it for a second,dropping his gaze to look at her. His expression changed and he relaxed. "You alright?"

He seemed to have completely forgotten the alien standing in front of them. "Arthur...there's an alien in here."

He gave her a weird look. "Alien?"

"You were just looking at it!" She pointed. "Behind you."

He seemed perplexed, but he looked around and saw the alien.

"What the...where did that come from?"

She stared. "You mean, you've never seen this before. Ever."

He didn't understand what she was aiming at, here. He knew, he'd remember if he'd ever seen something like that. "No."

That didn't make sense. How could Arthur not remember the thing standing in front of him when he'd seen it 5 seconds ago?

"Arthur," she said. "Look at me for a minute." She had to test this theory.

"What?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the thing. "Is there something more important than this thing right now?"

"Arthur, just _look at me_."

Something in her voice compelled him to, so he did. "What's wrong?"

"Turn around." He did.

And he saw an alien for the third time, but he didn't know it. Just like that, the minute he turned away from it, he forgot that he'd ever seen it.

She had to keep her eyes on it.

"Ari, what is that- did you make that or...it's just a projection. It has to be a projection."

And then, the thing spoke. "_Silence will fall when the question is asked.._." How it spoke, she didn't know. It didn't seem to have a mouth, but it was terrifying nonetheless.

_The question_? Before either of them could react to that, it struck. Lightning filled the room if the ship as it shot from it's large hands, heading straight for them.

Arthur woke in a panic, sitting up immediately and yanking the needle from his wrist. He checked the clock on the PASIV- there was still time left. So why had he woken up...? He must've died...but how? As hard as he tried, he couldn't remember. Something with Ari's blue box? Ari... She was still asleep. He didn't know whether to shut the machine off now or go back under. If something had happened to her, he'd never forgive himself.

Ariadne stood alone in the machine, facing the alien, projection, whatever it was.

"Arthur?" she said weakly. But it was no use, she knew he was gone. Brutally forced back into reality. The thing raised it's hand, and she could tell that she was next.

Stall. She had to stall. "What are you?"

"_We are the Silence_," the thing replied, stepping closer as it did so. She flinched backwards, reaching out an arm to hopefully throw a lever and land somewhere, but none were in reach.

"_You will help us kill the Doctor..._" it said. She saw the electricity beginning to crackle around it's fingers.

"The Doctor? Doctor who? I'm not going to help you...kill anyone!" she spat defensively.

And then the lightning struck, catching her right in the chest, and she could hear herself screaming as the pain mounted in her chest, growing and burning and tearing her apart inside as the alien made it stronger and it was so painful she couldn't bear it and then-

She woke up gasping in her chair, her hands gripping the armrests tightly as she sat straight up, immediately removing the needle from her wrist. Arthur, already awake, knelt beside her.

"Ari...what happened? Are you alright?"

She thought back to the dream, but all she could remember was an incredible pain, her scream, darkness, and then reality. She'd been killed in dreams before, but never in that way. Never had it been so painful, so terrifying, so...otherworldly. Saying nothing, she reached out blindly and felt Arthur's hands on her shoulders, pulling her closer into a comforting, gentle embrace that she reciprocated by winding her arms around his torso and squeezing tightly, not caring at all at this point.

"It's okay," she heard him whispering quietly. "It's okay, you're fine, you're safe."

"That was awful," she murmured softly. "I don't even...do you remember how we died?"

"No," he said. "It's like something was there, and I know there was something but there's a blank spot in my memory of where it should be."

She nodded and slowly pulled away from Arthur, sitting back in her chair. "Me too. There's only one thing I remember...silence will fall." She remembered the menacing words spoken just before the lightning had come.

"What does that have to do with us, though?" Arthur wondered. "You had that dream for a reason." He took his loaded die out of his pocket and tossed it, before inspecting the number and sweeping it back into his pocket.

Ariadne fingered the bishop in her pocket and shrugged. But moments later, the answer crashed in. Literally. Ariadne barely had time to look out the window before Arthur, who had already noticed the thing heading for their building, grabbed her around the waist and yanked her out of the way as the blue box- a real one, and completely out of control, came crashing through the windows.

**And there you have it! I understand if you've all completely given up on this story because I'm a terrible person and I'm really slow but if you're still around or new to it, please let me know what you think of it by reviewing! I'd really appreciate it, and I promise chapter 5 will be up soon (what's gonna happen when the Ponds meet Arthur and Ariadne?)**

**by the way, what's everyone think of series 7 so far? Are you ready for the Pond's departure, because I'm not!**

**and: whatcha think of TDKR? i'm a diehard nolan fan and I'll just say I walked out of the theatre crying like a baby because the last 20 minutes were so utterly brilliant and ugh**

**that's all, folks!**


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